Saint Louis County Highway CSAH-7 is a larger connector highway that starts
just a few miles north of the Duluth International Airport, and runs north
parallel to (and west of) US-53, ending in Virginia, Minnesota. The highway
serves all types of traffic from local farmers, landowners, commuters,
and the mining industry. CSAH-7 was named the Bobby Aro Memorial Highway
in honor of the singer, songwriter, and radio personality who was born
and lived near this bridge.

The CSAH-7 bridge is located a few miles south of the village of Forbes.
The Saint Louis River, which had been flowing south, has made a turn
and is now flowing from the east. There are several bridges in this area
in close proximity, including the DM&IR bridge, Forbes Dam, DW&P
bridge, a regional trail, two spans of US-53, and a township road.

The photo above is the west face of the bridge as seen from the downriver side
of the structure. This bridge is very typical of the prestressed concrete
girder bridges that are favored by MN-DOT for long life and ease of
maintenance. In this case, the bridge has two spans supported by a single
reinforced concrete T-pier.

The photo above is looking north down the length of the bridge deck from the
center of the highway. The photo below is a view from the southwest corner
of the structure. The bridge has full width lanes, wide shoulders, and the
modern style guardrails. Despite being 12 years old in these photos, the
bridge appears to be in like new condition.

The photo above is looking to the north from the southeast corner of the
structure. The previous bridge at this location was located in the clearing
just to the east of the current bridge. The photo below is the bridge plate.